New | Alibaba seeks to use police face scans to open bank accounts

Alibaba's financial arm is seeking regulatory approval to access the mainland police database so consumers can open online bank accounts with a mug shot.

The financial arm, which operates the Alipay service, is planning to use the Face++ facial recognition system developed by partner Megvii, which would allow consumers to set up accounts without physically visiting a bank, Megvii chief executive Yin Qi said.

"In terms of technology, everything has been sorted," said Yin, 27, who dropped out of Columbia University's doctorate programme in computer science to co-found Beijing-based Megvii, whose latest round of funding valued the company at US$100 million. "We are just waiting for regulators to approve."

The plan helps illustrate how Alibaba is joining the likes of Facebook, Google and Baidu in embracing biometric technologies and artificial intelligence. Megvii's application uses facial scans held in a Ministry of Public Security database drawn from legal identification files on about 1.3 billion mainlanders.

Alipay is owned by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma Yun's Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group.

Yin and two Tsinghua University schoolmates founded Megvii three years ago. Megvii, short for Mega Vision, has more than 50 employees - the average age is 25 - and regularly hires interns from the university.